The Toronto Maple Leafs have a shot at history (but they rarely hit the net)

The Maple Leafs' James van Riemsdyk, left, celebrates his first-period goal with teammate Tyler Bozak against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night. Van Riemsdyk had Toronto's last shot of the game at 19:53 of the second period.

Photograph by: The Associated Press
, Postmedia News

Sure as shootin’, the Toronto Maple Leafs may have moved into record territory — but, sadly, the NHL statistical archives don’t go deep enough to render it official.

The Leafs finally started hitting the target again Friday night, with Phil Kessel getting a shot on goal at 1:38 of the first period in Buffalo against the Sabres.

It ended a streak of 26 minutes 45 seconds without a shot on net.

The Leafs’ previous shot on goal was by James van Riemsdyk at the 19:53 mark of the second period against the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. They went without a shot through the third period as well as the five-minute overtime.

Where this dubious deed ranks in NHL history, we don’t know.

The esteemed Elias Sports Bureau says this is the 18th time in 10 seasons that a team has gone an entire period without a shot on net, but it doesn’t track such stretches beyond one period.

And it’s conceivable a team could go dry for, say, 13 minutes at the end of one period and 13 minutes of the next.

So, as much as we would like to say the Leafs are best at something …

Nonetheless, with the help of Elias we have determined the Leafs own the longest stretch of shot-lessness during the past four NHL seasons for a team that had fired blanks through an entire period.

Here are the previous four games that featured a no-hit-the-netter:

Tampa Bay, Oct. 5, 2013

The Lightning didn’t bolt out of the gate, getting zero shots in the opening period against the Chicago Blackhawks. Tampa finished with 16 shots and won 3-2 in a shootout. In the next period, Nate Thompson hit the net at 1:21. In the previous game, Teddy Purcell had a shot on net at 19:00 of the third period.

Total shot-less streak: 22:21

Edmonton, March 3, 2013

The Oilers were blanked in the second period against Minnesota and ended up losing 4-2 to the Wild. “That was embarrassing,” said Magnus Paajarvi, who had Edmonton’s last shot of the first period, a goal, at 17:58. Jordan Eberle had the next shot at 1:33 of the third period.

Total shot-less streak: 23:35

Buffalo, Oct. 7, 2011

The Sabres scored early and often and then went into a defensive shell to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1. They had no shots in the third period. Tyler Ennis had Buffalo’s last shot of the game at 19:45 of the second period. In their next game, Nathan Gerbe had their first shot at 1:16.

Total shot-less streak: 21:31

Los Angeles, March 31, 2011

The Kings’ Michal Handzus was stopped on a wrap-around by Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo at 16:38 of the second period. The Kings, who lost 3-1 to Vancouver, didn’t have another shot until Kyle Clifford hit the net at 1:26 of the first period, two nights later against Dallas.

Story Tools

The Maple Leafs' James van Riemsdyk, left, celebrates his first-period goal with teammate Tyler Bozak against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night. Van Riemsdyk had Toronto's last shot of the game at 19:53 of the second period.

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.